After more than two years of steady decline, SEEK’s March report shows a glimmer of stability in New Zealand’s job market.

Job ads remained flat month-on-month, but increased 2% for the quarter—the first quarterly growth seen since August 2022.

While ads in major cities fell slightly by 1%, regional New Zealand stepped up with a 3% rise.

Marlborough led the charge with a 24% monthly lift, followed by Wellington (2%) and Canterbury (1%).

Industries showed a mixed bag.

The Consumer Services and Industrial sectors dipped, particularly in metro areas.

Hospitality & Tourism and Retail & Consumer Products both saw notable drops, down 9% and 10% respectively.

But there was good news elsewhere.

Job ads rose 7% in both Healthcare & Medical and Education & Training, with the Public sector also seeing broad growth across both city and regional areas.

SEEK NZ Country Manager Rob Clark says the report suggests momentum is returning.

“There are early signs that economic and labour market growth may be on the horizon,” he said.

Applications per job ad climbed 2% overall in February, with particularly sharp increases in Retail (14%), Sales (6%) and Accounting (4%), making competition tighter for jobseekers across the board.

With ad volumes rising in key industries like ICT, Administration, and Sales in Q1, there’s cautious optimism that opportunities may continue to improve as 2025 unfolds.

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